Monday, August 21, 2017

Spaghetti Toss

Spaghetti toss

Human thoughts and understanding can be messed up.  Seriously you don't believe me just look at the news.  Our minds as Christians are a place of warfare.  See I personally have had a problem for years and maybe some of you can relate.  My problem is this my brain becomes obsessed with things to the point I stress myself out.  I ponder every possible conversation that could happen with me and another person whether it's good or bad.  I try to plot it out.  It happens when I'm nervous or frustrated or trying to deal with someone new.  At work lately I've been dealing with something stressful.  I will tell you this a writer's brain can be a scary place.  I find myself getting so agitated.  Physical problems can be easy to deal with.  Mental not so much.  Paul talked about the mine fields of the mind being a spiritual war zone and a lot of times it truly is.  In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "We are human, but we do not wage war as humans do.  We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.  We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.  We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ."  See the battles start in our minds and when worry, frustration and nerves start we try to rely on our own thoughts and desires.  It can work for a time but not recommended.  We have to take thoughts captive and make them obey Christ.  In Proverbs 3:5-6 there's a better way.  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; don't depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."  
See if I rely on my own thoughts and understanding I'm doing something about as useful as throwing a full plate of spaghetti and meat sauce at a wall.  It does the wall no good.  Certainly doesn't improve the spaghetti any.  In fact the mess is just bigger and it's a waste of good food.  So it comes to a choice and how the battle is handled.  Do I trust God and seek him and take those worry filled thoughts to God or do I throw my spaghetti filled thoughts at the wall?

Romans 12:2 "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."


I had this blog all typed up and I had a conversation Friday night that I wanted to involve with this because it involved the whole part mentioned in Romans about renewing of your mind.  See we live in a world where social media plays a large part and Christian singer Kerrie Roberts was asking on her page if you have to set limits on yourself regarding social media.  I will be honest I have to.  Mentally I can only take in so much political news and world news found on Facebook.  Also I'm friends with people who are not saved.  At certain points I have to look away because profanity and sexual talk bothers me.  There's a saying regarding computers of "Garbage in garbage out."  GIGO if you will.  We have to get away and spend time in God's word to get our minds renewed.  I hope for the reader of the blog that this is not the only time you read the Bible.  I hope it's a habit to counteract the garbage input because we get surrounded by the garbage whether we want to or not.  




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Monday, August 14, 2017

Tormentor meets Champion

Ever had good lyrics to a song constantly keep coming to mind.  If you listened to the music on my most recent blog post there was a song called Only Your Love by Margaret Becker and there's one word I keep coming back to this week.  That's the word champion.  I want you to read the lyrics from this song.  "And even as I stand here before you still there is a distance I long to close.  Lord, I want to run right straight toward you want to cling like a child to the folds of your robe.  You're my champion, my comfort and my strength."  

I spent thirteen years at a call center and I got called a lot of things.  I dealt with coworkers who verbally abused you because you weren't like them.  I like comics, wrestling and video games and if I didn't like the things they did they would tease me and verbally torment me like you wouldn't believe.  Had a woman one time grab my backpack and start rummaging through it because she wanted to see what I carried never asked permission it was just a full on invasion of personal property.  I had two ladies who decided they would start a rumor about a girl and say I was stalking her.  I only saw her for two seconds a day but I got accused and it got back to me and her.  I went and apologized and she was so hurt she was crying.  I can tell you many stories of such antics from people I've worked with.  Verbal diarrhea and torment from others I know all too well.  I was reading 1 Samuel chapter 1 this week and I want to introduce you to a woman I can relate to.  

1There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuphain the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, of Ephraim. 2Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.
3Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas. 4On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children.5And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portionbbecause the LORD had given her no children. 6So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the LORD had kept her from having children. 7Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle.c Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
8“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

But Hannah had a champion 

9Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.d 10Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. 11And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut.e” 

But get this even Eli the priest made fun of her.  

12As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. 13Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14“Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”
15“Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD. 16Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”
17“In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
18“Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
But God was her Champion and gave her a son.  

When you have someone verbally tormenting you, do like Hannah,  seek God and introduce that pain to your Champion, comfort and strength.  Let him fight that battle.  


I told my friend Dustin Merriman this week I try to introduce the readers of the blog to music they may not have heard before and I believe I have done that this week.  I pulled some obscure songs from my mp3 player but they're so good. lyrically.  I never even knew Sheila Walsh covered a Sandi Patti song till this morning.



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